The Pure Sociology of Morality
The Pure Sociology of Morality

Summary/Abstract: Pure sociology is a novel theoretical system that explains behaviour without reference to biology or psychology. This paper describes the main contours of the systemand applies it to the sociology of morality, using the author’s work on homicide asthe primary illustrative example. The morality of homicide or any other act can bemeasured by the response to it, such as the severity of any sanctions it attracts.Although homicide (killing within a society) appears to be universally prohibited,individual homicides attract sanctions of widely varying severity. Some killings result in severe penalties, others result in mild penalties, and still others result in nopenalties but, rather, praise for the killer. Traditional moral and legal variables, suchas the killer’s degree of intent or aggressiveness, cannot account for all the observedoutcomes. Pure sociology provides an alternative theory, explaining sanction variation with the social structure or geometry of the case – its location, direction, andmovement in social space. Right and wrong are geometrical.

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